'Truth shall make you free.'That's crisp, crystal clear.It can
survive any argument,any discussion, or debate.Truth can stand any
challenges,not by its own determinationbut by its own proven
victory; not by what I say or you
say,but by Itself, Truth shines.It shall
prevail.

- Swami Amar Jyoti

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` ` ` `

"In Light of Wisdom"Swami Amar Jyotiposted
to Along The Way

Scott Morrison

To be sure, we all have a great deal to learn from each
other. However, the process of subtle arrogance and self deception in the
spiritual arena is perhaps the most damaging of all illusions. I am a Buddhist,
or a Yogi, or a Pagan, or a student of the Fourth Way or the Kaballah or some
other mystical or ecclectic school, and I imagine that Christians are at least
somewhat deluded. Or I am a Christian, perhaps a Catholic or an Evangelical, or
a Course in Miracles student, or a Muslim, or a Jew, and maintain some pretense
that my version of God or Love is somehow more accurate than theirs. But
in fact, when we think Jesus said so-and-so, or The Buddha taught
thus-and-such, we might ask ourselves, How would I know, and why am I
repeating this? If we face it sincerely, it is hard to avoid the discovery that
all we are doing is trying to justify our own opinions and their connected
feelings, perhaps seeking to be tied in with some powerful authority figure(s)
which is fortified by our own conditioning. So we each have our private and
group stories about things, and continue to surreptitiously elevate ourselves
and put each other down.

But in fact, there is no private liberation or salvation.
(Where is the one separate from the rest, to be saved, except in some mental
fiction?) Of utmost importance, finally, is putting an end to this devious and
hurtful process of spiritual ego, of imagining theres some kind of
competition, and that theres someone who has to defend his or her particular
spiritual turf against others. If you stop using your transient body or your
thoughts or feelings as points of reference, it will be obvious that there is no
someone and there are no others. That whole thing is a paranoid fantasy, a
pathological delusion, in this case in the name of whatever religion to which we
happen to subscribe. So lets call a spade a spade: God, the Absolute, does not
belong to anyone, nor to any particular group.(So why pay homage to a
limited god?)

Furthermore, Enlightenment, Self Realization, does not
belong to anyone either. (In fact, everything belongs to Enlightenment. So why
pay homage to a limited enlightenment?) Although it may occur in virtually any
context - Buddhist, Christian, Yogic, Sufi, Hindu, Fourth Way, Muslim, Taoist,
Jewish, Wiccan, 12-Step work, shamanistic, agnostic, scientific and so on,
Spiritual Awakening, the Realization of Emptiness, the Tao, cannot be owned. How
could That which is infinite be possessed by any religion, tradition, path,
lineage, teacher, or hierarchy, all of which are limited? Is God a Christian, or
a Jew, or a Muslim? Is Enlightenment controlled by Buddhists or Yogis or Hindus?
How could That which is formless be made to conform to any set of
assumptions about liberation, past or future? (If you still find yourself
resisting that possibility, you might ask yourself how you would know, one way
or the other, and what motives are tied up in thinking about it in any specified
way, for or against. Why maintain beliefs or disbeliefs at all?) Is truth really
a matter of subjective opinion? Is not truth, if that word means anything at
all, an ongoing process of careful observation and uncompromised, undefended
honesty?

Its time we stop pretending, subtly or overtly, that our
particular group is superior in some way. Thats a hidden way of saying, Im
superior, (and therefore not inferior). Lets bring our woundedness, our
childhood fears and hurts of inferiority, covered over by the pretense of
individual or collective superiority, to a total and absolute halt. Completely.
Now. If we need to weep, then lets weep together. And let those tears of shame
be tears of relief, tears of joy, in finally putting down this burden of trying
to defend and justify what we have imagined ourselves to be. What doesnt exist
doesnt need to be defended. It never did.

Particularly in recent years, many of us have had very
powerful awakenings, but these experiences, in and of themselves, do not mean
that much unless we allow ourselves to be transformed, completely, by what we
have discovered. If we try to use them to validate our religious and peer
identities and opinions, with our various secret and subtle motives and
perceptions so shaped, we corrupt our awakening, and are already entangled in
delusion. (And when we make ourselves or our group or our path or the teacher
weve identified ourselves with special, we make ourselves separate.) The most
any spiritual institution can do is to support and celebrate what is already
real and true without reservation.

Full awareness, peace, freedom, clarity and joy can, and
do, only exist now. If any of us still find ourselves suffering from the
symptoms of ignorance, divisiveness or competition, that is to say, fear, envy,
anger, sorrow, frustration, disappointment, jealosy, self-loathing, guilt,
depression, loneliness, despair, or confusion, it is because we are still
negotiating with God, still negotiating with Truth, still negotiating with Love,
still negotiating with Freedom, still negotiating with Serenity. The pain is
none other than the agony of lying to ourselves about what we want more than
anything else. It is like finally finding the lover we have always longed for,
but holding back in terror of losing that love.

Why put this moment off? That which you seek is That
which you already are, and always have been - you are not separate, you
cannot be separate from the Absolute, from Infinite Consciousness Itself.
If you dare to stop pretending that you and your life are based on some mental
version of things that arises out of memory, you will find out beyond any doubt!
This is not some kind of wishful thinking or grandiose mental trick. Rather,
with total and unflinching sincerity, with no psychological defense or self
deception whatsoever, search your heart and find out what you permanently are,
what youve been all along. Find out if there has ever been a separate Other.
If you discover there never has been an other, is there one now? Could there
ever be? Why pretend anymore?

If you dare to give your heart, your soul, your mind,
your body, and your life, unconditionally, to what you discover to be true, you
will know an infinitely deep and abiding peace that has never been even a breath
away. This bliss, this tranquility depends on nothing, and It is not capable of
ending. Furthermore, it doesnt make a bit of difference what youve ever done
or not done. You can put an end to the battle. Yes, thats correct, just walk
right out of the war, right now. All you have to do is surrender, absolutely and
completely, not to me, not to some authority figure, or some organization or
institution, but surrender only to your own deepest Purity.

God and your own Unbounded Love are not different. If you
truly give yourself up completely, it will shock your whole system. It will
suddenly dawn on you,

Oh my God, what a fool Ive been! What was I
thinking?

Then the absolute insanity of giving yourself to anything
else will become apparent. Why wait? Why put off your own complete and total
liberation? In your innermost and outermost places, in every single moment, Love
waits for you everywhere. Is there really something else you would rather do? Is
it possible that the thing that you fear the most, the thing that you avoid the
most, is what you truly desire the most? It cannot abandon you. Even if you
choose to ignore It, betray It and walk away, It is always closer than your next
breath. Suspend all opinion and debate, and find out for yourself.